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Crew to Austin?


TRM

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9 hours ago, Free kick said:

I thought Cincinnati would have been the first choice...

The other I/Os miss out on an $150 million expansion fee if that happens, so the Crew are probably only allowed to move to Austin because it isn't a prime expansion location. Think the effect of an intrastate rivalry with Cincinnati in creating more interest is the most obvious reason for hanging in there if they could get a downtown stadium. Would normally feel sympathetic towards a fan base facing this predicament, but Bill Archer and the laughably named Hudson Street Hooligans...

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

I don't understand MLS' approach to this whole situation. They seem to be fostering local and regional rivalries with expansion to LA and NYC, but don't see the potential of a FC Cincinnati v Columbus Crew derby? I literally known nothing about Ohio, but the numbers FCC are pulling in seem really positive and make them a shoe-in for MLS. That would essentially create an Ohio derby and I would think this would pull the Columbus numbers up as well. Seems like a reasonable assumption that keeping the Crew in Columbus and bringing in FCC would be a very positive action for MLS. Maybe they're hoping having 3 teams in Texas will mirror the Cascadia situation and improve attendance figures for Houston and Dallas? If that's the case, leave the Crew, bring in FCC, and expand to Austin. Maybe Precourt is just a dick. I dunno.

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Just noticed in the boxscore of yesterday’s game, only eleven thousand and change showed up.  Yet, columbus was in the finals only three years ago,  they seem to be a regular playoff team, reached the eastern conference finals last year & were a brain cramp away from the finals, and they started this season last week with a good away win versus the top team in the league.  

Maybe thats why the owner and league want to move the club.

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3 hours ago, Free kick said:

Just noticed in the boxscore of yesterday’s game, only eleven thousand and change showed up.  Yet, columbus was in the finals only three years ago,  they seem to be a regular playoff team, reached the eastern conference finals last year & were a blooper away from the finals, and they started this season last week with a good away win versus the top team in the league.  

Maybe thats why the owner and league want to move the club.

Then move the Dynamo out of Houston too. 

I was watching the Atlanta game, 1st half, and all these fans just stand there, like sheep in a field, for as long as it takes to get them to sit already. It's pathetic, it's what you see at Seattle, they think they are being supporters when they are just being dumb. Standing their, hands in their cardigans, the girls with their hands on their hoop dresses. I think deep down they do not like the game at all, it does not make up part of any sort of narrative they at all believe in. They are dumbfounded, but stand because it seems like the right thing to do. I get the feeling that Atlanta will be like Columbus in a few years. But hey, you just can't keep changing franchise locations because soccer is so weakly rooted in the American psyche.

Fair enough, same is happening with American football for a lot of fans, but that is different: it once did grab their imagination. Soccer never has. All I am saying is this: it is hard enough to get some junior accountant from Ohio out of the house, do we have to make him stand? Just frigging well sit, as far as I am concerned, sit there, read a book, drink beer and talk with your friends. Treat the game like watching a 40 dollar tv program. Out of the corner of your eye. Enjoy yourself. Life in American is so damn boring they'll come out, but leave it at that. Leave the chanting and serious stuff to the folks who are into that, the usual 5%. 

And leave the Crew in Columbus, I mean, Austin after university gets out is not going to support MLS either, and they're Texans, they could give a damn about interstate rivalries, all of them are already "great".

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Except that in Atlanta,  72k people.paid money to be there with their hands in their cardigans and what not. And in columbus only 11k thought it was worth the expense to invest two hours of thier time.  

Its the old addage once again,  the supporters of the clubs (that draw smaller crowds) will say that they are the “true fans” or more genuine.  But the truth is that there is no objective way to measure things like that.  And if you were to go down that route, you would probably find that when it comes to true engagement there is little to distinguish  between one town or another in North america.  So it all boils down to the 72k versus 11k number. 

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3 hours ago, Free kick said:

Except that in Atlanta,  72k people.paid money to be there with their hands in their cardigans and what not. And in columbus only 11k thought it was worth the expense to invest two hours of thier time.  

Its the old addage once again,  the supporters of the clubs (that draw smaller crowds) will say that they are the “true fans” or more genuine.  But the truth is that there is no objective way to measure things like that.  And if you were to go down that route, you would probably find that when it comes to true engagement there is little to distinguish  between one town or another in North america.  So it all boils down to the 72k versus 11k number. 

Watch the curve, how it flows and ebbs. Support can fade for very small reasons, Columbus used to sell out or close. Atlanta has this fascination with the new stadium, that may wane soon enough. The damn place is really too big for the MLS game, I mean, do they think they are Dortmund? 

Saying 72 vs. 11k is not really fair, IMO, neither figure is representative. Neither is the support now in Cincinnati, it is no sure sign of things to come.

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I am really not sure what I am saying, to be honest. Just trying to figure out what sort of game-day experience these people are having to make them want to come back. It has to be some combination of decent results, enough of the time, and fun in the stadium. It's a good sign, for sure, I am amazed by the crowds appearing all over North America. But it does seem that some good deals out there, like competitive teams in Texas, have run their course, and that is an ominous sign. It means to me that pretty well any team could find its fan curve dipping, as if teams were organisms with senescence and the cells simply tired.

That is different from baseball, where the lockouts did huge damage for almost a decade, or basketball, which folks find overpriced and overhyped in many markets. Or American football, which is suffering from factors that began well before Kaepernick bent his knee, starting with kids not playing the game as much as they used to. 

I'd like to see a detailed user-satisfaction survey on MLS fans.

 

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  • 5 months later...

Today, MLS announced the new Austin FC logo before they have even officially taken away the team from Columbus. I fear where this will lead. It is clear that both the league and PSV have been working together to move this team for years. The hypocrisy of MLS is staggering. As supporters of the game, we should be outraged. We should realise that the Canadian teams could be next. The tactics used by Columbus to drive away fans look eerily similar to the Whitecaps. Despite good attendance, minimal investment in the product on the pitch. Minimal fan support. Minimal entertainment. It is no wonder that Crew attendance is low. They've seen the writing on the wall. 

One more great reason to support the CPL. Perhaps the dream of the Caps and Impact (OK, and TFC...if I must) in the CPL isn't as much of a dream as I though.

 

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I find this outrageous myself, and I could care less about Crew or Columbus, and actually have been to Austin and like it. But that is not the point, the robbery or loss of a franchise is pathetic and can hurt for years.

Saying this as I'm sitting in Montreal airport, seen more than a couple Expos shirts, caps, just in the last few hours. Was in Seattle two weeks ago, where I have cousins still pained by losing the Supersonics, one boycotts Starbucks for that reason (seems the owner sold them out, don't know the details). 

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9 hours ago, Nerf said:

We should realise that the Canadian teams could be next.

Would that be a bad thing? Our Canadian teams would probably make a profit selling their franchise rights and then we would be out of this terrible league that doesn't respect its fans and would have a much stronger CPL. 

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On ‎8‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 9:42 PM, Grizzly said:

Would that be a bad thing? Our Canadian teams would probably make a profit selling their franchise rights and then we would be out of this terrible league that doesn't respect its fans and would have a much stronger CPL. 

I love/hate the idea. MLS is here to stay, and the quality of play is good, if the overall structure sucks. I would love the three Canadian MLS cities to switch if I knew for certain that the league would be well run. But we don't know this yet. I, for one, would rather have an MLS team than no team at all. I've gone through too many years of being more concerned about my team surviving a season to go through that again.

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  • 1 month later...

A bunch of sources are reporting that Jimmy Haslam, who owns the Cleveland Browns, is going to step in and save the Crew.

The rumoured process is that this is an expansion buy wherein the new Columbus team keeps the name, history and roster of the team and Frank Precourt moves the current "team" to Austin.

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2 hours ago, devioustrevor said:

A bunch of sources are reporting that Jimmy Haslam, who owns the Cleveland Browns, is going to step in and save the Crew.

The rumoured process is that this is an expansion buy wherein the new Columbus team keeps the name, history and roster of the team and Frank Precourt moves the current "team" to Austin.

Interesting considering there is currently a rule that prevents NFL owners from owing other sports franchises. There’s been speculation that NFL owners are going to change that but it must be iminanent.

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1 hour ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Interesting considering there is currently a rule that prevents NFL owners from owing other sports franchises. There’s been speculation that NFL owners are going to change that but it must be iminanent.

How about Robert Kraft for an example Patriots and Revolution

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